Entry-level Microsoft Surface Book 2 could be getting a spec bump

The Microsoft Surface Book line of products are 2-in-1 laptops with detachable displays that you can use as tablets. When Microsoft launched the 2nd-gen version in late 2017, the company offered two different screen sizes: 13.5 inches and 15 inches, as well as two different processor options: Intel Core i5-7300U dual-core or Core i7-8650U quad-core.

Update 3/28/2019: Yup. The specs on the Surface Book 2 website have been updated. But it looks like rather than phasing out the Core i5-7300U model, Microsoft is adding a new Core i5-8350U version.

Prices start at $1149 for a model with the 7th-gen, dual-core chip, or $1499 for a model with the 8th-gen, quad-core processor.

The rest of the hardware remains unchanged, including a 13.5 inch, 3,000 x 200 pixel touchscreen display, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of PCIe NVMe solid state storage.

The computer is still described as a Surface Book 2, so this appears to be a hardware refresh rather than a next-gen version of Microsoft’s 2-in-1. But the move from a 7th-gen dual-core processor to an 8th-gen quad-core chip should bring a pretty significant performance boost to the least powerful model in the lineup.

It’s unclear if or when Microsoft will officially announced the change or offer the updated model through the Microsoft Store. But with a new product number and multiple stores showing the new processor option, it seems unlikely that this is a simple typo.

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